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OT's Turretless Tank 'DNF'

Posted: November 16th, 2017, 11:38 am
by Old_Tonto
This will be my entry for the Scando group build, the Trumpeter Strv 103C (S-Tank) in 1/35th scale.

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I don't usually build armour so this should be a good way of stretching myself.
Rather than waffle on about this kit I'll point viewers at this Dutch fella waffling on about it. :lol:



Tempted as I am to have a go at the funky 4-colour splinter camo scheme I came across these images of a 'Winter' scheme.

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So I think I will give this a try as I plan to build a Swedish Centurion sometime in the 4-tone camo. Whatever scheme I choose, S-tanks always look cool. 8-)

Re: OT's Turretless Tank

Posted: November 16th, 2017, 4:18 pm
by ShaunW
Oh man, these S-Tanks are like buses - haven't seen one on here in ages and then two appear! This would seem to be a later version to the one Daz is building. The winter scheme will look good, OT.

Re: OT's Turretless Tank

Posted: November 16th, 2017, 11:32 pm
by planecrazyman61
hi OT and welcome looking forward to seeing your build on the s-tank and like the look of that winter camo scheme
cheers craig

Re: OT's Turretless Tank

Posted: November 22nd, 2017, 9:38 pm
by Spaceowl
Not doing the four-colour camo? Lightweight! :)

Good luck with this kit, Ian. It seems to have a lot of bits.

Re: OT's Turretless Tank

Posted: November 24th, 2017, 5:56 pm
by ShaunW
Spaceowl wrote:Not doing the four-colour camo? Lightweight! :)
Yes, I agree - having seen some of their aircraft, surely the Swedes must have used a ten-colour splinter or digital scheme on these tanks to properly challenge OT's painting skills :ha:

Re: OT's Turretless Tank

Posted: November 27th, 2017, 12:10 pm
by Old_Tonto
Spaceowl wrote:Not doing the four-colour camo? Lightweight! :)
No as I said earlier I plan to do at least a Centurion and possibly a leopard II in that 4-tone scheme so am looking at some thing different.
I did consider this one for a while:

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Rather funky isn't it? :lol:

Any way back to the kit. Following the instructions i started by attaching all the suspension gubbings.

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I didn't take too much care here as none of this will be seen once the external fuel tanks are added.
Assembling the wheels is a bit tedious but there are only eight to do.

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So this is where I am up to. The wheels and hull top are not yet attached.

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The gun barrel is not great so a lot of work will be required to eliminate the seam line. It may even get some camo net draped over it yet.

Re: OT's Turretless Tank

Posted: November 27th, 2017, 12:18 pm
by Spaceowl
That's come along very nicely. I've always thought it was a handsome vehicle and the kit captures those rakish lines well.

Re: OT's Turretless Tank

Posted: November 27th, 2017, 2:53 pm
by MarkyM607
Old_Tonto wrote:
Spaceowl wrote:Not doing the four-colour camo? Lightweight! :)
No as I said earlier I plan to do at least a Centurion and possibly a leopard II in that 4-tone scheme so am looking at some thing different.
I did consider this one for a while:

Image

Rather funky isn't it? :lol:

Any way back to the kit. Following the instructions i started by attaching all the suspension gubbings.

Image

I didn't take too much care here as none of this will be seen once the external fuel tanks are added.
Assembling the wheels is a bit tedious but there are only eight to do.

Image

So this is where I am up to. The wheels and hull top are not yet attached.

Image

The gun barrel is not great so a lot of work will be required to eliminate the seam line. It may even get some camo net draped over it yet.
I like the yellow/blue scheme but wonder why they parked something that colour(s) in a wood. Not exactly camo of the year is it?! :lol: :lol:

Re: OT's Turretless Tank

Posted: November 28th, 2017, 5:52 pm
by ShaunW
Great progress, OT. I would agree, that blue and yellow Swedish flag scheme is a novel and interesting take on the question of tactical camouflage :ha:

Re: OT's Turretless Tank

Posted: November 28th, 2017, 9:16 pm
by DavidWomby
Progressing nicely, OT.

I don't know what to say about the blue and yellow Swedish flag camo!

David

Re: OT's Turretless Tank

Posted: December 3rd, 2017, 1:14 pm
by planecrazyman61
nice work on the s-tank OT looking forward to seeing it progress and getting its winter coat on
cheers craig

Re: OT's Turretless Tank

Posted: December 30th, 2017, 4:08 pm
by Old_Tonto
Apologies for the lack of progress on this one guys. I'm afraid life got in the way again and to be honest the over engineering of the kit just killed my mojo for building it. This is as far as I have gotten.

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It doesn't look like much does it but plenty of hours have been spent on needles details that could have been molded in. To give you an example there are 6 of these things, each made of two parts & all badly moulded that require sanding, glueing, fitting etc. just to complete a piece that should have been a single part. :???:

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I lost one of the gazillion hand holds that need fitting as it pinged off and fed the carpet monster so I had to make another.

Another prime example of over engineering is the commanders hatch this is made up of 20 parts plus another 5 for the machine gun! :twisted:

This is not endearing me to Trumpeter kits. Still plodding on though so will see how far I get before the deadline.

Re: OT's Turretless Tank

Posted: December 30th, 2017, 4:55 pm
by Spaceowl
Keep plodding on, Ian. You've done well so far. Trumpeter needs to learn that more parts doesn't equal more fun.

Re: OT's Turretless Tank

Posted: December 30th, 2017, 5:45 pm
by ShaunW
Keep at it OT - when it comes to parts counts sometimes less is more!

Re: OT's Turretless Tank

Posted: January 2nd, 2018, 4:14 pm
by Old_Tonto
OK guys, with the two week extension I may get somewhere with this.

Last night I completed most of the construction work and got a coat of primer on.

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I'm quite pleased with that although I have left off about 20 hand holds from around the hull. This kit already has too many parts.

I will give the whole thing a coat of the base green before I fit the wheels, tracks and fuel tanks along the side.
There is no point camouflaging the lower hull as only the lower half of the wheels will be visible.

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More to follow.